Mo Ryan, the Chicago Tribune’s “Watcher,” has made Mad Men her #1 show of 2008. No surprise there, Mo has been one of Mad Men’s biggest supporters from Day One. It’s part of why we love her. Another part is elegant phrasing like this:

Even when it confounded me, this rich, complicated drama about yearning, unpredictable men and women left me hungry for more. This year, the “Mad” men frequently yielded center stage to the show’s frustrated, fascinating women, who turned in stunning performances, and to supporting characters such as the lovable but heartbreaking Freddy Rumsen (Joel Murray). “Only connect,” E.M. Forster wrote. It’s never easy, but I look forward to watching Don Draper keep trying.

What about Jeremy Piven’s story of suffering mercury poisoning from eating too much sushi?

The Center for Consumer Freedom isn’t buying it.

“The entire medical literature doesn’t contain a single documented U.S. case of mercury poisoning from eating fish sold in restaurants and supermarkets,” said David Martosko, the center’s director of research. “Piven isn’t going to change that by making a convenient escape from a job he doesn’t like.”…

“Piven may not know it, but he’s playing games with Americans’ health,” Martosko said in a release. “Tall tales of mercury poisoning just make Americans afraid to eat fish, and that’s horrible for public health.”

But actor Fisher Stevens told the New York Post that he believes Piven. Stevens suffered from mercury poisoning earlier this year and said, “I believe him. His numbers are off the charts.” Stevens felt sluggish after eating fish four to five times a week.

One NY Times columnist thinks Mad Men outshone most Hollywood movies this year. Another thinks season 2 wasn’t quite up to season 1, but was still “fantastic, while a third lists Don’s visit to Peggy in the psych ward as one of the most memorable scenes of the television year.

15 Responses to “Mad News, December 17-23, 2008”

There's a two page spread of the women of Mad Men in this weeks Entertainment Weekly. They're listed as giving one of the best performances of 2008. Christina, Elisabeth, and January look gorgeous in the picture.

â€œI know a lot of you wanted to see a big TV star,â€ Esparza remarked, â€œâ€¦but this is the first time all season this trio (which included Elisabeth Moss and Pivenâ€™s understudy, Jordan Lage) has felt like a team."

According to an audience member, at that point, Moss became choked up and the cast hugged.

Speaking of podcasts with Jon Hamm, I'm not sure if this was mentioned before, but he was on both Doug Benson's 'I Love Movies' and 'Never Not Funny' with Jimmy Pardo. The former is free and available through iTunes, while the latter has a free feed of the first 20 or so minutes at pardcast.com. There's also about 5 minutes of video from 'Never Not Funny' with Jon talking about the Emmys at http://blip.tv/file/1345556 .

It's definitely not just Mamet who is saying it. Google 'mercury piven' and you'll see several articles. I read something about a very high level health care official who is concerned that Piven's feigning mercury poisoning is sending a dangerous message to the whole country.

â€œThe entire medical literature doesnâ€™t contain a single documented U.S. case of mercury poisoning from eating fish sold in restaurants and supermarkets,â€ said David Martosko, the centerâ€™s director of research.

From sourcewatch.org, which I trust regarding PR front groups and grasstops organizations:

The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) (formerly called the “Guest Choice Network”) is a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries. It runs media campaigns which oppose the efforts of scientists, doctors, health advocates, environmentalists and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, calling them “the Nanny Culture — the growing fraternity of food cops, health care enforcers, anti-meat activists, and meddling bureaucrats who ‘know what’s best for you.’ ”

Over 40 percent of the group’s 2005 expenditure was paid to Rick Berman’s PR company, Berman & Co. for “management services. As part of its operations CCF runs a series of attack websites, including “consumerfreedom.com, activistcash.com, cspiscam.com, animal-scam.com, fishscam.com, obesitymyths.com, physiciansscam.com [and] petalkillsanimals.com.

I am so disappointed — I have tix to see Speed-The-Plow in January. I love Elisabeth of course but Jeremy is #1 on my list (you know, THE list . . . should the opportunity ever arise, my husband would have to look the other way . . . LOL ).

Anyway I too have read tons of articles calling him a liar and saying he wanted out. But from all I have read, Raul Esparza isn't so much fun to work with either. Hmmm . . .